The lack of integration, automation, and governance can often lead to disk being treated the same way as handling LTO tape – with manual processes. Not only can this cause bottlenecks, and create a greater risk of errors into the workflow, but it also means that media companies are wasting valuable time and resources on managing storage rather than more beneficial functions. This can result in a number of un-secure, un-managed storage silos, made up of scalable NAS, USB drives, or large cloud buckets full of content you can’t find or afford to use.

MatrixStore object storage simplifies the complex by providing the highest levels of digital content governance (audit, immutability, etc.), multi-tenancy, analytics, metadata management, search, sharing, and collaboration in a package that is easy to manage and even easier to use.

Being able to access your archived media content quickly is important. The very nature of archived footage tends to mean that much of it is stored on physical copies, or LTO, which requires manual input to gain access.

Transferring your content onto a more modern online system means that creative teams can access content from anywhere in the world. Access controls can be implemented meaning the right teams will have access to the right data. Metadata and clever media management technology will enable you to simply search for content and have the footage handed to you within seconds.  

And Digital Content Governance (DCG) will ensure your content is protected at the highest level so you can concentrate on revenue-generating activities.  If organisations wish to profit from their content or build a successful community they need their hands on their data 24/7 to use, re-use, re-shape and re-use. Digital Content Governance platforms enable that, but they also focus on the whole package required to protect, curate, share, distribute and audit digital content.

• Are your archive strategies supported by media management policies?
• Do you have a written data security policy?
• What are your security protocols?
• Is your content kept on multiple un-consolidated storages?
• Do you ship or courier your hard drives?
• Do you rely on RAID as your only protection against data loss?

Is your data disconnected from the rest of the organisation in siloed networks or on tapes on shelves? With cyber-crime on the increase, your data is vulnerable.  To keep your data safe and secure, you should avoid having access to large amounts of data from single PCs or logins.  This can create a major security hole.  

Consider keeping your data safe in purpose-built storage that adheres to good Digital Content Governance principles.  By exposing everything via a file system can be extremely dangerous. By getting into the mind of a hacker, you can form your digital content governance strategy that protects your data.

• Have you underestimated the cost of your cloud solution?
• Did you think Cloud is the cheapest option to store your media assets?
• Did you consider how much it would cost to access your media assets through Cloud?
• Is your Cloud solution the right fit for your business?

Cloud is highly efficient at data distribution and sharing production workflows. Recent world events have seen unprecedented uptake of Cloud, enabling teams to flexibly work from home. This can be very cost-effective in most situations. 

However, in some situations, the public cloud in creative workflows is often deemed as far too unpredictable, cost-wise, meaning ROI is challenging to forecast and report on. ROI is driven by generating new revenue streams from latent content currently sat on offline media. This ensures revenue-generating activities continue even in the event of local outages.

• Do you have an audit trail?
• Do you have a ‘deleted’ folder or easy data deletion recovery?

Many organisations rely on dated technology (e.g., LTO), non-automated workflows, and fragmented working practices to access their content. This approach presents many risks such as data security, not having an audit trail of your content, or lack of a data deletion recovery process.

Creative professionals are time-bound when waiting for tapes to be loaded or a drive to be posted when what they need is instant access to their content. A process hindered by data technologies and working practices. They need to be able to efficiently find, view, sub-clip and share media assets from anywhere and at any time.